1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, for example, a side lock apparatus which locks a lid provided in an opening in a motor vehicle in a closed state or releases the lock to open the lid.
2. Description of the Related Art
A glove box is provided on a passenger seat side of an instrument panel of a motor vehicle. A lid of this glove box is mounted in such a manner as to cover and uncover an opening in the instrument panel, and furthermore, a lock apparatus is provided which locks the lid in a closed state and releases the lock to open the lid.
As the lock apparatus of this type, there are known a center-lock type lock apparatus and a side-lock type lock apparatus. As the side-lock type lock apparatus, a side lock apparatus is disclosed in JP-A-2004-211383 below which has a case, a knob rotatably mounted on the case, a pair of sliding members which are supported on the case in such a manner as to slide in a horizontal direction and a pair of rods which are mounted on the sliding members, respectively, and are made to appear from and disappear into both left and right ends of a lid. In addition, a rack groove is formed in each of the pair of sliding members, and a pinion gear is interposed in each of the rack grooves, whereby when one of the sliding member is caused to slide by operating the knob to rotate, the other sliding member is also caused to slide as a result of interlinkage therewith, so that the pair of rods are made to appear from and disappear into both the ends of the lid through the operation of the knob.
In the case of the side lock apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2004-211383 above, however, since the other sliding member is caused to slide via the pinion gear as a result of interlinkage with the sliding of the one of the sliding members, there has occurred a case where the lid cannot be opened and closed in a smooth fashion. In addition, in the event that there exists a play or looseness between the rack groove and the pinion gear, there is caused a difference in operating stroke between the pair of rods, and in this case, too, there is caused a problem with the opening and closing operation of the lid.